Exploring Business Opportunities for Young Entrepreneurs Series Part 2: The Multi-faceted Mai Mislang
The second leg of the “Exploring Business Opportunities for Young Entrepreneurs” symposium was held at the CARD-MRI Development Institute, Inc. (CMDI) Tagum City Campus on April 4, 2019.
Associate Dean, Daisy Jane Caballero, recapped the previous symposium and reminded the students on its relevance. She also facilitated a short game for the students wherein they were tasked to build the highest possible structure using plastic ladder toys that will not collapse for at least one minute. Only half of the six groups were able to successfully fulfil the challenge.
Everyone were then asked how they strategized and the possible reasons why they failed. Ms. Caballero then explained that lack of planning is a recipe for failure. Therefore, to be a successful entrepreneur, one must always have a plan and avoid being impulsive; and this was the main objective of the day’s symposium.
The guest speaker is Carmen “Mai” Mislang, a strategic consultant with all-around multi-sectoral experience spanning 17 years. She was a presidential speechwriter and former Assistant Secretary for the Presidential Communications team during the term of President Benigno Simeon “Noynoy” C. Aquino III.
She formulates digital, operational, sales, marketing and communications strategies for non-profit organizations such as Hands-on Manila and the Bishops-Businessmen’s Conference. She also manages her own wellness distribution business and is an advocate for affordable and scalable products for the ‘bottom of the pyramid’ market.
She graduated cum laude at the University of the Philippines Diliman with a degree in Tourism and holds a Masters of Public Administration degree from the John F. Kennedy School of Government in Harvard University. She is also a classically trained pianist and is currently the lead vocalist of the Blue Rats, a Manila-based blues band.
The speaker then asked the participants who among them have an existing business; and are enrolled at the BS Entrepreneurship course because they aspire to build a business in the future.
She shared that initially, she did not plan on becoming an entrepreneur. Moreover, she revealed that studying at Harvard University cost her a large amount of debt, which she is still paying for until now.
The sad truth, according to her, is that even if a person has the best education, a company still has the liberty to fire employees; and she realized that in a very costly way. However, she said “When you hit rock bottom, there is no other way to go but up.”
As she continued with her talk, she encouraged the students to practice daily reflection in the morning by allocating at least 10-15 minutes of asking their own selves on what they really want to achieve in life. She also advised them to have a SMART—Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Timely— goal because it is something that she didn’t have before. Further, she reminded that ‘time is greater than money’ and people should find the optimal value of input per hour.
She lectured briefly on the Employee, Self-Employed, Business Owner, and Investor (ESBI) Quadrant from the book of author and financial guru Robert Kiyosaki and how to have a business mindset which can be achieved by: 1) setting big hairy audacious goals (BHAG); 2) list down all the things you want to achieve in life; 3) have a dream calculator; 4) feed your mind with success principles; and 5) invest in yourself.
Lastly, she shared some simple money-making ideas to help them start-up such as creating their own capital, not borrowing money yet, and starting with low overhead cost to generate a high return. She then entertained and answered questions from the participants, which mostly are tips on business and investments.
The symposium concluded with the awarding of certificate and token of appreciation to the resource speaker, followed by a photo opportunity with all the participants.
Contributed by: Mark Gil Sabay